Chapter 498: Walking the Douyin Path

Among internet products, Jiang Heng values short videos the most. Setting aside their huge influence in the media field, their enormous market value and astronomical revenue are also things Jiang Heng cannot ignore.

Kuaishou is listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange; its total market value in 2024 was HK$216.746 billion. Douyin, although not listed, generates very high operating revenue, with full‑year revenue of US$1.1 trillion in 2023, undoubtedly an internet giant.

Jiang Heng could avoid e‑commerce, food delivery, and ride‑hailing apps, but short videos—a presence capable of overturning the traditional film and television industry—really cannot be ignored.

The reason he waited until 2014 to prepare to enter the field was also due to careful consideration.

First, entering early does not necessarily make one the biggest winner.

Miaopai's failure is a good example, because in the early stage of a newly emerging industry, everyone is not sure which development direction is more suitable; those who enter later can instead feel their way across the river by following the pioneers.

Of course, the reason Jiang Heng didn't enter so early was mainly that he lacked time.

Second, he cannot be later than Douyin, otherwise there would really be no chance.

By 2024, although the short‑video field was dubbed the 'Douyin‑Kuaishou duopoly', in terms of either company valuation or market share, Kuaishou had long been left far behind.

As a 'junior' that only entered the field in 2016, Douyin's rise has been truly rapid. The reason is that it is a completely different product from Kuaishou.

Kuaishou is a short‑video platform that enhances social attributes, highlighting the community's selection attribute, which naturally favors forming attention and social mechanisms. Douyin's immersive single‑stream content naturally favors algorithmic recommendation of hit content, highlighting the content's impact.

Kuaishou emphasizes relationships, strengthens social attributes, puts people at the center, and distributes content that users pay attention to.

Douyin, on the other hand, focuses on distributing content via algorithms, highlights content's gratifying points, creates hits, centers on hit content, and distributes content that users like.

This is why, although both are short‑video apps, Douyin's growth far outpaces Kuaishou's. Although Kuaishou's growth lags behind Douyin's, its social attribute is what leads.

Different content distribution methods lead to different income structures for the two companies.

Douyin's income structure has advertising as the main source, followed by live streaming, then e‑commerce.

Kuaishou's income structure has live streaming as the main source, followed by advertising, then e‑commerce.

As for the content recommendation mechanism, Jiang Heng naturally leans toward Douyin's algorithmic mechanism, after all it has been proven successful and easy to use.

The general logic is to first review the video, downgrade duplicate content, then combine keyword matching to give a small traffic pool to users with similar interests.

Based on metrics such as like rate, comment rate, and completion rate, content that performs well in the small traffic pool is further recommended to larger traffic pools, and this process repeats.

Such a mechanism can lower users' decision‑making difficulty, increase the dissemination power of high‑quality content, and make it easier to produce hit content.

Thanks to this, Douyin not only later became the ultimate ruler of the domestic short‑video field, but its international version also succeeded in going global, sweeping the world.

What Jiang Heng needs to do now is to enter early and follow Douyin's path.

Technology is not a problem; he has a 'Super Microcomputer' and can do many things.

More importantly, he knows the direction forward, has strong financial resources, and can recruit heavily.

The next day, Gao Fei brought a young man named Jiang Dongsheng over, saying he was clear‑minded and reliable.

Jiang Heng chatted briefly with him, found his comprehension good; although he had little exposure to the short‑video track, he could at least grasp Jiang Heng's intent and would be able to apply the lesson broadly.

"Alright, then go hand over your duties first, return to the group company side, wait until the new company is registered and staff are in place, and I'll tell you the rest later!"

"Okay, Director Jiang, I'll do a good job!"

Jiang Dongsheng, like everyone else, called Jiang Heng Director Jiang, and then left with Gao Fei.

Not long after, Jing Tian entered the door, curiously sizing up Jiang Heng and asking, "What have you been busy with lately?"

Because according to past custom, Jiang Heng should be preparing a new film at this time, yet he had spent two straight days talking with the CEO of Weibo—perhaps he was planning something big?

Jiang Heng smiled and waved, gesturing for Jing Tian to sit beside him. "Do you like using Weibo?"

"Of course, I scroll it every day!" Upon mentioning this, she became excited.

Jiang Heng smiled and said, "Then have you ever opened the Weibo video app?"

"You said Miaopai—does it still have an app?"

Da Tian Tian's eyes widened, wearing an expression of disbelief.

Jiang Heng laughed heartily and did not answer.

This was the serious mistake made during Miaopai's development—content and traffic were entirely in Weibo's hands, reducing it to a mere short‑video playback tool.

When Weibo left it, that was the moment of its decline.

Seeing Jiang Heng not answer, Jing Tian lightly poked him with her arm and said in a cute tone, "You're teasing me again!"

Jiang Heng hurriedly said, "No, no, the company is just preparing a new project!"

Jing Tian asked, "Then, what do you need me to do?"

"Well, when the time comes just post some selfies from your daily life and upload them."

Da Tian Tian said, "So it's basically another Weibo, right?"

She scrolls Weibo every day, so she naturally also often posts beautiful photos and videos.

Jiang Heng nodded and said, "Pretty much."

"Oh oh, then should I stop using my Weibo side?"

"No need to stop, just shift your focus here—you understand!"

Da Tian Tian nodded eagerly, "Understood, I guarantee to complete the task!"

"You little girl!"

In just a few days, the new technology company was registered; the big group company handles affairs, and the treatment is still different from that of ordinary people.

Jiang Dongsheng also came to the new company to report for duty; according to Jiang Heng's request, he integrated the personnel drawn from the group's various subsidiaries.

At the same time, they began recruiting professional talent and spent heavily to poach people from short‑video companies such as Kuaishou.

For a moment, the industry was shaken; everyone knew Jiang Heng was about to break into the short‑video field, causing everyone to feel threatened.

Because those short‑video companies were still spending money to buy traffic, while Jiang Heng's group company itself is a traffic‑generating entity—how could they compete?

What is even more alarming is that Jiang Heng's achievements in the special‑effects field, if those flashy effects were placed on a short‑video platform, would amount to a dimensional strike.

Of course, limited by smartphone hardware, software, and network issues, those effects can at best be of a five‑mao level, which is still quite deadly! Thinking of this, companies such as Kuaishou, Yixia, and Penguin that have already entered or are preparing to join the short‑video track have all held meetings to discuss countermeasures.

On Jiang Heng's side, they began preparing to hold a celebration.

Of course, it was the celebration for 《The Legend of the Heroic Soldiers: Devil Angel》.

After one month in theaters, the mainland box office for "The Devil Angel of the Legion of Heroes" exceeded the 3‑billion‑yuan mark, ultimately reaching 34.3 billion yuan.

Although it fell short of the 36.1‑billion‑yuan gross of "Black Myth: Wukong", it at least surpassed "The Mermaid", temporarily ranking second in mainland China's all‑time box office. (End of chapter)